Nuclear Physics Exploring the Heart of Matter (2013) / Chapter Skim
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5 Nuclear Science Going Forward
5 Nuclear Science Going Forward
Pages 213-226
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From page 213... ...
nuclear physics community devotes substantial effort to its long-range planning processes, with several hundred scientists participating actively. The plans that result reflect the broad and varied scientific perspectives that are a strength of nuclear physics.
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From page 214... ...
. Similarly, the support of the nuclear physics community for fundamental nuclear science, focusing on an underground laboratory, stems from community-driven action expressed at the Astrophysics, Neutrinos, and Symmetries Town Meeting that took place before the 2002 LRP and that was highlighted in the white paper that emerged from that town meeting.
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From page 215... ...
The time and effort required by that process to develop consensus in the nuclear physics community has been particularly worthwhile in the construction of large facilities. However, as discussed below, the committee rec ognizes that excellent smaller and/or international opportunities must sometimes be seized before the next LRP process begins in order to ensure the maximum scientific impact.
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From page 216... ...
, 2008, Report of the Work ing Group on Nuclear Physics, May. Available athttp://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/41/40638321.pdf.
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From page 217... ...
consideration of how the sophisticated new tools and protocols that have been developed for the successful management of the largest projects in nuclear physics can best be applied to proj ects at the other end of the size and cost scales and (2) recognition that sometimes excellent smaller-scale and/or international opportunities must be seized before the next LRP process begins in order to ensure that the scientific impact of U.S.
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From page 218... ...
Unless education programs are reinvigorated, the United States will lack the expertise to pursue the research needed to advance and maintain those fields of nuclear physics and radiochemistry that are intrinsic components of nuclear medicine for diagnosis and treatment, the handling and storage of reactor waste, detection of the trafficking of nuclear material, nuclear forensics, nuclear weapons and stockpile stewardship, and the development of new accelerator technologies. The workforce problem is not limited to low-energy nuclear physics and radio chemistry; it affects all areas of applied nuclear science.
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From page 219... ...
A significant fraction of the workforce involved in this research was originally attracted to the field through collaborative basic nuclear physics research programs between the universities and the national labs. Recruits have come from all subfields of nuclear physics, and there is a strong track record of successfully applying nuclear physics techniques to national security needs.
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From page 220... ...
They are developing their own research agendas, and collaborating with and helping to mentor graduate students. Postdocs have mastered the tools and skills needed to advance their research in nuclear physics, and they have the time to devote their full energies to doing so.
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From page 221... ...
Even as the pressure for more resources to support operations of the major facilities themselves becomes more acute, the long-term health of the field of nuclear science and of the nuclear science workforce that is needed by the nation requires that a balance be established and maintained between the needs of university and college programs on the one hand, and major facilities and national laboratories on the other. To this end, funding for educating, training, mentoring, and supporting the research of budding nuclear scientists from undergraduates through junior faculty is an essential component of moving the science forward.
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From page 222... ...
Models for the nuclear physics fellowship program can be found in other fields; examples within the DOE include its fellowships in the computational sciences, the fusion energy sciences, and the stewardship sciences. • The introduction of a national prize fellowship program for postdoctoral researchers in nuclear science would provide similar encouragement and support for those at the beginning of their research careers.
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From page 223... ...
Bridging support is a very good investment when it facilitates the creation of new faculty and staff positions. • Competitive awards for shared research instrumentation awards, such as the Major Research Instrumentation program of the NSF, work well in nuclear physics because the funding is matched reasonably well to typical 9 Portions of this paragraph were adapted from NSAC Subcommittee on Nuclear Theory, 2003, A Vision for Nuclear Theory.
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From page 224... ...
Travel grants are awarded on a competitive basis, and all participating students receive lodging. Activities for the students, in addition to participation in regular conference activities, include the research poster session, two nuclear physics seminars targeted to the advanced undergraduate level, an ice cream social, and a graduate school fair.
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From page 225... ...
• As noted above, the successful broadening of the field of nuclear physics in recent decades into many of the areas described earlier in this report has been crucial to maintaining a nuclear physics presence in universities and colleges and a nuclear workforce for national needs and has played a key role in keeping the field intellectually vibrant. Further broadening is occurring -- for example, when experimental nuclear physicists employ their expertise to advance the search for dark matter and theoretical nuclear physicists take on the challenges of cold atom experiments -- and will con tinue to occur in the future.
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From page 226... ...
This engagement adds nuclear science to the educational experience of students who go on to careers across the full spectrum of science and technology. With revitalized undergraduate and master's programs in nuclear engineering, there are new opportunities for nuclear scientists to partner with their colleagues to enhance nuclear science education, to reach out to students from traditionally underrepre sented backgrounds, and to prepare students for a broad range of opportunities in nuclear science, engineering, and technology.
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